The MV Ruin ship, which was hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14 (Reuters - Archive)
The Indian Navy announced that it had recovered the ship MV Ruin from Somali pirates and freed the crew members, putting an end to a 3-month hijacking of the Bulgarian cargo ship flying the Maltese flag.
Pirates hijacked the ship on December 14, about 700 kilometers east of the Yemeni island of Socotra. This was the first successful hijacking by Somali pirates since the hijacking of the Ares oil tanker in 2017, and this was also the first operation since 2012.
The Indian Navy wrote on the
The ship's owner, Navibulgar, praised the recovery of the ship, considering that the operation constitutes "a great success, not only for us but for the entire global maritime community."
The ship had a crew of 7 Bulgarians, 9 Burmese and an Angolan.
The pirates first released an injured sailor and handed him over to the Indian Navy, then took the ship and its crew to the semi-autonomous Puntland region, where it docked in the city of Bosaso.
The Indian Navy spotted the ship the day before yesterday, Friday, and sent the warship "Kolkata", which succeeded, after a series of maneuvers, in "forcing the 35 pirates to surrender."
She explained that she "was able to safely evacuate the ship's crew members without causing any casualties."
The operation was conducted in coordination with other military ships, helicopters and aircraft, according to the Indian Navy.
After its peak in 2011, piracy declined significantly with the deployment of international warships, the establishment of a maritime police force in Puntland, or the placement of armed guards on board commercial ships.
Source: Agencies